Libor rate not under Fed control, says Ben Bernanke

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke learned from news reports four years ago that banks were manipulating a key British interest rate. But Bernanke said Tuesday that the Fed was powerless to do anything beyond contacting British authorities.

The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, rate, affects the interest on many loans. The process for setting Libor has come under scrutiny since Britain's Barclays bank admitted two weeks ago that it had submitted false information to keep the rate low.